A couple of matched pairs...

What little girl doesn't love dolls and bedtime stories?

I know my granddaughters do.

With that in mind, I purchased two similar 18" dolls, a couple new bedtime reads and a few yards of soft, cuddly flannel and got to work.

 

Here's what I came up with...

 

"O" is for Oakleigh

 

 

 

 

 

 "B" is for Brantlety

 

 

I sewed matching jammies for the girls and their dolls!

 

I never knew how much fun it would be to sew for an 18"doll.

(Shhh....don't tell, but I'm thinking about buying one for myself too.)

"What if Christmas doesn't come from a store."



 "What if Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!"

(Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas)

 



 

I love this little Grinch design and have used it many times; on blankets, shirts, pillowcases,

 towels, etc.

Here I stitched this cute little Grinch on a blanket for Colin and paired it with the classic.

 

 I was unable to find the size blanket I had in mind for a 2 year old, so...

  I purchased fleece, cut it to size and serged the edges.

* Easy peasy lemon squeezy *

Hot chocolate with Santa



I know, you've all seen this done before, but I just wanted to share...

 



I made a few nieces and nephews personalized placemats.

 I then stuffed the placemats into these cute little mugs along with hot chocolate and a candy cane.

 



 



I still treasure my Santa mug I had as a child...

 

Have a great Monday everyone!



Wishing you and yours...

 

...and a peaceful New Year!





 

Twas the night before Christmas....

 

Joey and Jasper hung their stockings with care...

 

 





...all in the hopes that St. Nicholas would soon be there.

Tea cups and cardinals

 



our simple little tree....

Well...........

 

Hello there!

Remember me?

I know, it's been awhile, but I'm still here.

Doing a little baking....

 

 and getting ready for the holidays with a gift of embroidered napkins for a friend.

 

 

Be back soon....

(promise)

 

Geeks?.... Nerds?

 

Whatever you call them...

 

YA GOTTA LOVE UM!

 

I'm talking...

The Geek Squad at Best Buy.

 You may have noticed I haven't been around lately.

My computer crashed a few weeks ago, but thanks to the Geeks at Best Buy, I'm back up and running!



Yippee!

 

 While waiting for my computer, I decided to make myself a new girly pincushion - the Martha Stewart way seen here.

 

 All it takes is a few small scraps and about 15 minutes of your time.

This pincushion was so fast and fun to make, I'm thinking of making a different one for every corner of my sewing room.

 

How 'bout you?

Sew & Tell Linky party?



Here's the thing...

I am pondering hosting a SEWING linky party each week and wondering how many of you would be interested. Because I don't see many SEWING linky parties, I am hoping some of you would like to join me for some SEW & TELL fun each week.

What's a SEW & TELL linky party, you ask?
First of all....
IT'S A PARTY !!!... and who doesn't love a PARTY !

 It's a party where you will be able to share your creativity with others. My readers will be able to link up their sewing projects for others to see, and in turn, add a button on their blog back to mine inviting others to check them out or add a link to their own sewing project. When the party is over and all the dishes are done, I will pick a few of my favorites to feature the following week.

If your interested, please comment on this post or shoot me a quick e-mail.

If I get enough interest, I will start hosting a Sew & Tell party each week. 

Are you game?

 

 

These darn mug rugs are sooooo addicting!



 



  

 

Linking today to:

http://romantichome.blogspot.com/

 

Mug Rug

 

I took a little break from sewing my picnic table runner to make a gift for a friend.

 

 







 

Have a great weekend !



Linking today to:
http://romantichome.blogspot.com/
http://www.myquiltinfatuation.blogspot.com/


I'm not sure....

 

Is it the month of July, the summer weather or the fact that this red and white fabric just screams picnic to me?

 

 

 

I'm working on another picnic table runner.

 

Be back soon!

Serger love....

 

Mr. Fisherman bought me my first serger over 20 years ago.

I'm now on my second one and have no idea what I would do without one.

Once you own one...there's no going back.

I inherited this baby when my mother passed away in 2007.

This one (for the most part) threads itself.

My first serger was one you had to thread manually. Until you get the hang of threading a serger you literally want to rip your hair out. Eating glass would be less painful...

 If you own a serger, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

It takes some patience, but eventually it becomes second nature...really.

So, don't let threading your serger stop you from using it, keep trying.

There are so many fun things to do with a serger.

 

I had just enough of the red and white checkered fabric left from my ant and watermelon table runner to make a quick tablecloth.

By the way...has anyone noticed this is the same fabric I covered the lampshades with on my thrift store chandelier?

 

 

Original post here.

 

Okay, back to the tablecloth...

Originally I was going to serge, turn under a half inch and hem my tablecloth, but after sergering the edges, I decided I liked the look of the serged edge instead.

 

 I usually like to serge a rolled edge on napkins and tablecloths, but I liked the casual look of these stitches against the red and white checkered fabric.

 

Whichever you choose, it's "sew" easy to have a new look for your table in minutes!



A little of this...

 

...and a little of that.
 

 

 

 

Makes for a quick, and simple dishtowel.

Enjoy your meal or...
Bon appetite!



Linking today to:
http://romantichome.blogspot.com/

 

Quilt as you go

Remember Friday's post?

I wanted to experiment with the quilt as you go technique and do a bit of scrap busting at the same time.

It started like this...

 



...and ended like this.

 



Here's how it went.

 I first cut and laid my strips down. I then printed out copies of the designs and placed them where I wanted them to go.

 

 

Next, I layered the back fabric and batting and began to sew my strips using the quilt as you go method.

 

 

Very easy.

 

Once the strips were all sewn down, I began my embroidery.

Come on - can these ants get any cuter?

 



Of course, what's a picnic without watermelon...

 

 

 I did like the quilt as you go method, but I had a bit of an issue with my fabric puckering around my embroidery designs due to the thickness of the batting and the two layers of fabric.

 

 

Even at that...

I still think it turned out pretty cute!

 

 

 

 Whatcha think?

 

Have a great Monday everyone!


Linking today to:
http://diyshowoff.com/
http://www.flamingotoes.com/
http://www.craft-o-maniac.com/
http://www.classyclutter.net/
http://lollyjane.com/
http://www.bloominghomestead.dreamhosters.com/
http://www.thecraftedsparrow.com/
http://gigglesgalore.net/
http://romantichome.blogspot.com/
http://www.dizzyquilts.blogspot.com/
http://www.myquiltinfatuation.blogspot.com/
  

A simple sketch...

a few scraps...

 



...and your imagination.

Makes for a fun sewing project!

 

See ya soon... 

~ Stash busting ~

Well, sort of...

Well, it started out that way...

Really.

 I started going through some of my smaller scraps and decided I could make a few simple placemats or table runners and reduce a good amount of my fabric stash. I've been wanting to experiment with the "quilt as you go" method, so I thought table runners or placemats would be a good start.

Not only would I be reducing my stash but learning a new quilting technique.

It's a win - win!

As I am sorting through my fabric, I am realizing I didn't have much batting.

I prefer the Warm and Natural or Warm and White batting made by The Warm Company.

 

 

I like the way it crinkles up after it's quilted and washed.

 It looks more like the quilts my Granny use to make.

 Anyhow, I noticed Hancock Fabrics had all their batting on sale, so off I went.

One problem.

I came home with MORE fabric!!!
I know, I know, don't lecture me - I couldn't resist...

 

Isn't it pretty? 

I thought to myself, "Wouldn't this make a pretty table runner?" and talked myself right into buying it.
Besides, I can still use some of my stash I have at home to go with it.
Right?

Now, I have another problem.
I purchased a small Ottlite they had on sale, but found it's not going to work for me.
Here's my problem...
 I need to go back to the fabric store to return it, so.....
I'm thinking "Horse blinders".
Don't they use those to keep horses focused?
Do ya think they would work on people too?

Wish me luck!